Jade's sigh of relief over successful return with Eagles

Featured image: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

Not only has Jade Williams come to Australia for the first time for this NBL1 West season with East Perth Eagles, but it's also marked her return from a knee injury and the talented big couldn’t be happier with how it's going on all fronts.

There was natural nerves for the 26-year-old at the start of the season just because it was her first time playing in Australia, but then it was also her first time being back playing on a court since her last game in Finland on December 15, 2024.

A knee injury meant that 2025 was a write off for her but she decided to try a female agent for the first time, that led to a conversation with new Eagles coach Jonelle Morley and now the rest is history.

Williams has fitted in nicely as the starting centre averaging 10.4 points and 7.1 rebounds a game while shooting 54 per cent on an East Perth team currently sitting in second spot at 6-1 ahead of this Friday's clash on the road to a Cockburn Cougars team on a 29-game winning streak.

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Williams couldn’t be enjoying her time in the NBL1 West at the Eagles any more than how things are going so far but there's still always room for improvement including coming out of last Saturday night's 19-point victory on the road to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

"I'm finding it really well and I'm really proud of our team and our progress so far. I think we're doing really well and we just have to keep it going. Every week is an exciting challenge," Williams said.

"I think there's always room for improvement and honestly seeing that we're at the top of the ladder now and if we want to stay there, we're always going to have to be open to constructive criticism.

"We're always talking to our coaches and amongst each other about how to remain sharp.

"I'd like to think there's always room for improvement after every single game and that's why we look at film, we go over different plays and we go over it at practice. I think we've been doing a really good of that so far."

Decision to come down under

When Williams was back home doing the rehabilitation on her knee, she didn’t know what was next to her but after starting her professional career in Greece, Kosovo and Finland after graduating from Duke University she was looking for something new.

The prospect of then coming to Australia and playing NBL1 for the first time then appeared something that appealed to her. Then once she talked with coach Morley she knew she wanted to do that with the Eagles and has now never looked back.

"It was a strange journey honestly and what happened was that I was playing in Finland and I came home unfortunately I did suffer an injury," Williams said.

"So I had to take a whole season off and recover and rehab, and I thought back to one of my teammates' agents and thought why not give her a try.

"I had previously been working with guys but I wanted to try a woman this time and she's Aussie based so she said she knew plenty of teams and people here, and that it's a great place for summer ball.

"This is my first time playing summer ball so it's definitely been a whole new experience and she got me in contact with Jonelle. Then Jonelle told me a little bit about East Perth and the girls and she was really confident that I would be able to gel well right into the team.

"I think she was right ultimately for sure and we've had another couple of new people come in as well, Sarah for example who also has gelled well with our team already.

"It's a little bit of an interesting story but I'm happy to be here and I definitely think Australian basketball is something I had to adjust to. It's very fast paced compared to Europe where it's a little bit more of a bruiser league especially for someone my size in the post.

"But here I'm definitely getting up and down the floor a lot more and I think we're definitely transitioning into a position-less game of basketball as well.

"My match ups are shooting threes and having a lot more finesse so that's been helping me up my game and make adjustments to it. It's been a league for me so far."

Playing under coach Morley

From the moment Williams had her first conversation when she was back home with coach Morley about the prospect of joining the Eagles and coming to Australia for the first time, it didn't take her long to want to be part of it.

She's never regretted it since and couldn’t be more impressed with her coach including because she has her own 172-game playing career to call upon along with the championship success she's had as a coach, and then also that she's such an approachable person.

"I love playing for Jonelle and honestly she's also a previous player and you can just see that IQ comes in to how she orients our team and with the things that she says, and how she runs our offences and tries to find different match ups for us," Williams said.

"I think she's just really good at her job and I have nothing negative to say, she's open to talking to anybody also and she's a good person outside the court.

"If you're having a bad day or just want to talk, she's there for you so she's been a big part of our success so far here at East Perth and I'm definitely enjoying having her as my coach."

Future goals now back playing

The last thing on Williams' mind right now is what's next in her career because she is just firmly focused on making the most of being back on the court.

Going back a couple of months and all she wanted to do was to make a successful return to the court and to prove to herself that her knee was fully healed and that she could handle playing again.

But now that Williams is getting back to her full powers on the floor, she's setting herself some goals and one of those is to end up averaging a double double for the Eagles.

She's already had two double doubles in the first seven games while not having less than five rebounds in any of those so she's not too far off that already.

"My biggest goal coming back was just making a safe return to play and I think I've done that," Williams said.

"In my position and just being honest with myself, I think I'm entering that double double zone and trying to get there as efficiently as possible.

"That's my biggest goal for this season so I'm getting pretty close to that and I'm happy with that. Then it's always a big adjustment and it's definitely nerve racking when you first jump back in the waters, but it's kinda like riding a bike again.

"I did the rehab and had to take a whole season off so I had plenty of time to rest and get my confidence back. That's happening with each and every game, and Jonelle and my teammates are helping with that every day.

"I'm happy with my progress so far and I don’t think the journey just ends now that I'm playing again. I still have to be on top of my rehab and it still is nerve racking and there's always part of me of that feels like I'm still catching up a little bit, but I'm excited for every game.

"Then whatever is in the future for me I can't tell you clearly because I don't anticipate what happens and I'm just going to take it one step at a time. Whatever's next will be next."